KATHMANDU, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's Department of Immigration said it had suspended visa services for foreigners staying in Nepal after one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee tested positive during the test conducted among its over 80 staff on Friday.
"Considering the possible spread of the COVID-19, the Department of Immigration has decided to close all the visa services effective from Aug. 10 until further notice," a statement posted by the department on its website reads.
Ram Chandra Tiwari, an information officer at the department, told Xinhua on Monday that he expected the visa services to be closed for a week. According to the department, around 100 foreigners, many of them foreigners with Nepali origins visit the department for visa services every day.
The department estimated that around 20,000 foreign passport holders are still staying in Nepal, many of them with Nepali origins.
The government has not resumed normal visa services for foreigners from the Nepali embassies abroad except for diplomats and officials of international agencies who are required to visit the country on a case-by-case basis.
According to Tiwari, since the infection was confirmed on Sunday evening, the outside visitors have been barred from entering the department's office starting from Monday.
"The infected employee had attended office until Sunday. After infection was confirmed, the employee has been sent to the hospital while the other collogues serving in the same department have stayed at home quarantine," said Tiwari.
There has been a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Nepal, with 338 new cases on Monday and a total of 23,310 cases so far, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Enditem
